Tuesday, October 30, 2007

It was started by a lady who has a blog called Blue Tea. (Thus the name!)

According to the original poster, the rules for this meme are: “Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five.”

Meg's classes all look really cool, but I think I'll take this one: Carpentry and woodworking class. This is an area where I have very little skill. I've done a bit of refinishing, but I have more that needs to be done.

What else would I take?

Oh, my......this is tough!

I would take Guitar. I haven't played for years and I miss it. I would even cut my fingernails.

Excel. Yes, I know it isn't exciting, but it would sure make my treasurer job easier if I could do Excel without calling my husband for help.

German. The class would need to include reading old German writing. That would be quite helpful in my genealogy research.

Church history. This is an area where I really feel a lack of knowledge. I know I could just read some books, but sometimes it's fun to just have someone tell you.

Organic gardening. Yes, our garden did fabulously well this year. That was beginner's luck! I would love a class where someone help me know the best time to plant certain things, how to have nice healthy compost, how to deal with certain pests, etc.

Sewing. Sewing, sewing, sewing.

Digital photography. I do okay, but I would love for my pictures to be better, and I'd love to learn how to use all of the functions that the camera has.

Finally, although I believe it is hopeless and likely pointless, I would take a class in Organization.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Since pink is my favorite color, I had a lot of choices for today's photo hunt, but I had to go with this one. This is my 11-year-old son, who is terrified of pink in only the way an 11-year-old boy can be. His sister received this pink hat for a gift and thought it would be fun to see how it looks on him. Big brother is helping him hold still for the camera.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Okay, I may not love all cemeteries, but I love the country cemeteries where earlier generations of my family are buried. (The one above is Elhanan Cemetery in northern Wells County.)

For a history buff like me, who is also part of a close family, family history is a natural interest. I have been researching for over 10 years now, but moving to northern Indiana five years ago really reinvigorated my searches. Both of my parents are from the county to the south of Fort Wayne, and the last immigrant ancestors of mine arrived there in the late 1840's. Our families were among the early settlers of three northern Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, and Wells.

This gives me an enormous feeling of connection to this part of the country. I love finding the homes that family members lived in, seeing the churches the attended--and often helped build--and walking through the cemeteries where they were buried. I love finding newspaper snippets about their comings and goings, reading their letters, and seeing their names on old plat maps.

I love the cemeteries for their serene country settings. I love the signs of the faith that was an important part of their lives. There are eight cemeteries that I know pretty well, now, but each time I go I seem to make a new connection. There are a few I have yet to find. A beautiful fall day is the perfect time to go search.

My great-great-great grandparents, Joseph and Anna Harrod moved here from WiIlliams County, Ohio.Their son Enos and his wife Hester have one of my favorite headstones. Enos and Hester's daughter, Alta Jane Harrod Ruhl was my great-grandmother and I was named after her.

In reality, there are so many reasons I dislike Wal-mart, that I don't think I could list them all. Let's start with inferior products and dirty stores. That's enough reason to keep me from going there. Sam Walton's stores were packed with "Made in America" signs, now Walmart stocks mostly things that are made in China. Or maybe it's the strong-arm tactics they've used with companies to lower prices, lowering quality and hurting other companies in the process that makes me despise them.

I'm a shopper and I like a bargain, but I don't think that what we're getting at Wal-mart is a bargain. Check out this video, which was linked to by Scott for a look at an amusing take on Wal-mart's "low prices."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I've been tagged by my friend Melynda, which is an awesome way to prod a lazy blogger into blogging.

The rules:1. Link the person who has tagged you.2. Tell seven true things about yourself.3. Tag seven new people.4. Leave a message with the person you have tagged so they know about it. I am supposed to name seven truths about myself............. and tag seven new people.

Hmmmmmmm, seven true things about me.

1. I need coffee to function at anything resembling an effective level.

2. I love to buy gifts.

3. I would rather read than just about anything.

4. My house is a wreck. (Hmmmmm, could there be a causal relationship between those last two?)

5. I wish that I could go to the beach, even just for one day.

6. Then I could read on the beach.

7. I do not color my hair.

7. My house is a wreck.

Now for the tags. I haven't been getting around to blogs much so I don't know who else may have been tagged. If you read this, consider yourself tagged. Except for Bethany. You are tagged.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

I've emptied my half of the closet, sorted through all of my clothes, put my fall clothes in order in my closet, and put my summer clothes in the office closet. I've got a nice bag to take to the clothing bank.

I've dusted my ceiling fan and the cobwebs around the beam in the vaulted ceiling in my bedroom.

I've gotten my calendar all filled in and thrown away dozens of post-it notes. I've put the proposed church budget for next year into Excel.

I've gotten everything disgusting out of my fridge and I've made supper. (Those two are NOT directly related.)

My life and house are still pretty chaotic, but they're WAY better than they were yesterday.

And , as an added bonus, I've gotten to listen to hours of Issues, Etc. archived shows while I work.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Yesterday I finally had two hours at home in a row to work in my office, so at least I can see the surface of my desk again. As this week goes on I plan to slowly reclaim my house.

I haven't just been busy. My life has felt like a vortex of swirling chaos. Everything is out of control. I even paid some bills late because they just got buried.

So in my moments in the car I have been reading Getting Things Done again. I had read and partially implemented this before, but I'm working on getting it fully implemented. This is the only one of the dozens of organization/time management books that I have read that seems to work for me. I need something to help me keep the vortex of chaos at bay!